Game of the Year?

The Raps have concluded their most successful regular season in years, and while they prepare to battle the Nets in the playoffs, I thought it is a good time to reflect on the season and determine the Best Raps Game of the Year.

Now, this isn't the game which has the best execution, or the crispest rotations, but simply, what game left you feeling of "whoa, that was one hell of a game."
Mind Blown

Anyways, so here is the short list imo. Feel free to add others or vote for one of these.

#1 - March 21 - 2OT 119-118 Loss to OKC

This was a hell of a game. We saw 4 Raps score 20+ points (DD 33, Amir 25, Lowry 25 and Vasquez 21), JV grabbed a game high 13 rebounds while playing a career high 45:24 minutes. We played a tight 8 man rotation with Patterson out due to injury.

A double OT game is guaranteed to be exciting and Raps fans court-side got a treat.

Unfortunately, Durant dropped 51 points including the game winning trey with Amir playing tight D.

#2 - Jan 25 - 126-118 Loss to LA Clippers

This is the game that Ross went for 51 points, shooting 10 of 17 from 3P range. Despite the loss and all, this game felt special watching it as Ross chased (and ultimately tied) VC's franchise mark of 51 points in a game.

#3 - Jan 27 - 104-103 W in Brooklyn

Two days later, this one was a playoff game in January. Lowry went off for 31 and JV produced 20 points and 13 rebounds (4th highest point total on the season and highest at the time). DD was out and the Raps were on the road against a Nets team that entered on a 5 game winning streak and had won 10 of their last 11 games.

Raps down 2, with 12 seconds left and the Nets in-bounding the ball, the Raps pulled off this:

#4 - Feb 27 - 3OT 134-129 Loss to Washington

Another (tough) loss, another multi-OT thriller in Toronto. Demar scored 34 points, Lowry had a double-double that was almost a triple-double (18 points-10 assists-9 reb). Vasquez dropped 26 off the pine including 4 of 9 from deep. JV had 10 rebounds in just 29 minutes (and led to many forum discussions about this playing time and Casey's ability to manage rotations).

This one had multiple moments that stand out.

The good.
The bad.

And the ugly

Of these nominees, I vote for the Brooklyn game. What say you RR Nation?

Totally #3, the Brooklyn game. That was one of the most epic regular season games I've seen and Lowry's performance on both ends was among the best individual performances from a raptor that I can recall. It was truly inspirational stuff, he just wouldn't let them lose. To top it off, the ending was pure madness.

Another memorable game was in LA immediately after the Gay trade, when the shorthanded Raps were lead by Amir's breakout game (does one complete game equal a breakout, in hindsight?), destroying the Lakers in Kobe's return.

Bingo, that was the game for me as well. It may not have been as exciting as the other games, but it was the game that showed this team could compete with the best of them!! And it was the first loss OKC had suffered at home this season, who would have expected the Raps to accomplish that?

The Indiana New Year's day game. For me that was the most impressive performance, hanging with one of the true elite teams of the league (back when they actually were elite, 25-5 going into that game), and then, just slamming the door midway through the fourth and allowing just 8 points in the last 7 minutes.

Yeah, it didn't come down to the last play of the game, but that's not who this Raptors team is: when they're at their best, it's about their ability to turn up the intensity and execution for a stretch in the fourth so that by the last minute or two, the game is already out of reach.

Sorry to get off the reservation a bit here but I first started feeling that maybe this team was showing signs of "getting it". December 20th at Dallas....overtime win....109-108. I started to feel that proverbial tingle in the groin area ...rethink/doubt the "tanking stance" and broke open another cerveza.

- Raps were down big early in the 1st qtr. Big comeback to end the 2nd qrtr. And then DeRozan went beastmode to finish off the Mavs in the 4th.

2. Golden State game in Toronto.

- Warriors style of play IMO are the ones that gives the Raptors the most trouble. Beating them at home was incredible specially after what happened the last time they played each other.

I agree with the golden state game. It was around the time that we were up in the standings but you just had a feeling it was a mirage. We had beaten a few weak teams lately. The gsw game was the one that solidified, as much as it can, that this was a talented team

Best game of the season for me would be the Indiana game on New Year's Day. That was a statement game that after the Gay trade, the Raptors are a brand new team, destined to be a contender in the East. And this was against the top-seeded Indiana team before the Granger-Turner trade, so they were really the best in the East at that time.

2nd would be of course that BK game where Patterson stole the pass and hit the game winner, with the Nets having no timeouts left. I was hoping Jason Kidd would spill his pop again to get an extra timeout lol. We also didn't have Derozan in that game.

3rd would be the Dallas game with VC coming back to TO. I was so annoyed by how sportsnet tried to promote it making it look like the Raps are begging VC to come back. It even got crazy when VC posterized Demar early in the game. Then Demar just exploded for 40 points giving the exclamation point that this is a new era, and VC could go fuck himself.

Had the Raptors won in those other games mentioned above, they would definitely have made my list, esp the OKC game, if not for John fucking Salmons. And those were very winnable games, and they had them on the ropes but couldn't deliver that knockout punch which cost them in the end.

That Double OT loss to OKC honestly had me feeling like I hadn't since at least 06-07, but I even said since VC missed the shot vs Philly. The ups and downs of that game were just heart wrenching, especially the way it ended. Raps up by 8 with 49 secs left, I believe, and they shoot three straight 3's to win it? And the last one by Durant just solidified his MVP season in my books. I was shaking then, and I'm even feeling it as I type this. Wow. That was game of the year to me, regardless of win or loss.

Second place goes to the TR51 game, just back-and-forth ridiculousness. My stock in the kid went from 50 cents to $10, just like that.

3rd is the Crooklyn game where Project Patterson got the steal. Dude is a keeper!!

The Bench

I am wondering who on the bench is going to get burn time in game 1? It seems as if the last four to six games were an open audition for the coaches to see who was on (Vasquez, DeColo, Hansbrough) and who was not (Salmons, Patterson). Hayes was Hayes. Will Coach Casey shorten the bench, or try to use fresh legs to keep Brooklyn running? Is there even a second unit on this team that anyone can recognize?

A second, related question: Toronto's fast break is almost non-existent, but we saw flashes of it in April. Will it become more of a weapon against Brooklyn? If so, it still needs a lot of work from both starters and bench players.

I was at the double-OT loss vs. Oklahoma City, the arena was like I have never seen before. When Lowry hit that 3 in OT to tie it up, I thought the roof was going to come off. And then...yeah.. Durant's shot and all.

I was at the wizards game and it was the only game i went to all year because the games against the good teams were all sold out and trust me it's much different than watching on tv. I give it my vote for GOTY